Lefty Unplugged at Cat's Art MusikCircus on Monday Night

Lefty Unplugged, maker of "the echo song," will be performing at 1PM SLT on Monday night at Cat's Art MusikCircus.

There's plenty of gushing about his talent plus there's a video in "the echo song" - Kevin Farrell (video) so I'll leave that to speak for him.

I haven't heard any jams at the MusikCircus since Friday so I'm ready for some improv!  Plus things should be easier for everyone this time as the U.S. and Europe are back in-sync on Daylight Savings Time now.  How ridiculously silly to get out-of-sync in the first place!

Hope to see you tomorrow night!

Smokin' in the Boy's Room

As you may have surmised, assuming you do surmise or that anyone does but we assume someone must or there would not be a word for surmising, the lack of any news on smoking is not good news.

The campaign cracked during the extended Internet crapshoot during which it was down for three days.  Although I have not heard any reliable reports that the Mothmen were responsible for the downtime, what other cause is more likely.  Some say a switching box on a telephone pole was hit by lightning during the storm on the preceding Friday but they always say that, don't they.

So the Marlboros came back and have since left again.  I weaned them out and switched to roll-yer-own which I loathe as I don't roll cigarettes any better than I roll joints and they almost always turn out like dirigibles.

Once more it starts again and it looks like tomorrow would be a peach of a day for it.

Sorry about that but I will keep at it until I get it right.  I told Cat that I would and it bugs the living hell out of me that I have not yet delivered on it so here we go again.

"the echo song" - Kevin Farrell (video)

While the following article shows what is wrong with Second Life, this one will show you what is right with it.  I had never heard Lefty Unplugged / Kevin Farrell before he played at Cat's Art MusikCircus and I was immediately taken by the imaginative music he gives us.  I'm not quite sure how it happened but it seems we turned into old geezers so playing in real-life venues is not going to titillate the hearts and naughty parts of young ladies and Second Life, particularly Cat's Art MusikCircus, gives a wonderful place to perform.

As you will see in the video, Kevin sometimes needs more to tell the story in his song and his cartoons are fascinating to watch unfold:


Hang with it for the rollerskating shark.  The lyrics are priceless!

It's probably obvious by now that Kevin is a friend of mine and perhaps it's not so obvious that he has been admiring of my skills as well but that has nothing to do with why I present his work here.

I love his imagination and I love it in anyone but the way he expresses it is highly compelling.  I'm not sure but I hope he will be performing at the MusikCircus tomorrow night and there's no telling what he will do.  Sometimes he just plays songs he makes up off the top of his head.

That he doesn't shred does not mean he can't as he has excellent guitar skills but he plays only what is necessary for a particular song, sometimes that is electric and sometimes it is not.  I've heard him start out soft to create a gentle soundbed and then play electric lead over the top of it that came as wind blowing through the trees, absolutely marvelous work!

I don't want to let an idiot set the tone for the day as in the following article as sometimes the job of Guardian is to help focus on things which are good even in the face of things which are bad or especially in the face of things which are bad.  Some have laughed at my mad love for Cat when it's possible I may never see her but love isn't about possession, it's about appreciation.

So, with love to my bro, Kevin, I hope you enjoy his Blue Eyed Red Beaked Yellow Bird!

Request for Report of Abuse of Second Life Events by TrillianTraal

TrillianTraal has posted several events in the Second Life Music category and they request a boycott of Cat's Art MusikCircus, Torben Asp, etc.  (Update:  The fool did it again today, now 4/1, and it is reported in a newer article:  Request for Report of Abuse of Second Life Events by TrillianTraal #2)

3/30 12:30 PM Boycott Torben Asp and Homophobia

3/30 01:30 PM Boycott Cool Cat's Art MusikCircus and Homophobia

There has been an ongoing assault on multiple people by Trillian Traal as she charges anyone who disagrees with her with homophobia and then attacks in any way possible.  She also uses an avatar named named Roxy Roller / Roxy Geller and that is the same person.  Her behavior is grossly malicious and needs to be stopped as she has no ability at all to control her behavior.

In case the screen shot does not include the Search window, she has posted two events in SL Music under Boycott, both of which are malicious and false.  She is in violation of international law for her harassment and it is unfortunate that the Second Life medium is being used as a vehicle for it.

On seeing these phony events, please report them to Linden Labs so this kind of abuse can be stopped. This ridiculous, malicious, and harassing vendetta has gone way past far enough and needs to be stopped immediately.

TrillianTraal is also Trillian Traal, Roxy Gellar, Roxy Geller, Roxy Roller, Jennifer Daniels, and others.

This is not the first time this person has behaved like this and multiple people have been negatively affected by it in the past.  Enough is enough!

I have been in Second Life for almost seven years and I have never reported anyone before.  Traal's behavior is outrageous and needs to be stopped.

What's Hot on the Blog

Yesterday the blog broke through four hundred hits for the first time.   Yahoo!

Thank you and here's what was hot!

Entry	Pageviews
Slow Down - Save a Turtle! Mar 30, 2013	22
Kreuzfahrt Katakolo im Regen Jan 25, 2013, 1 comment	20
My Baby is a Little Lamb Mar 30, 2013	20
The Elven Children (poem) Feb 4, 2013	17
Joaquin Gets Electrified at the Circus Mar 30, 2013	14
Griechisch Autobahn Denkmäler Jan 19, 2013	14
Synthetic Marijuana Can Easily Kill You Feb 6, 2013	10
The Famous / Infamous Melrose Jam Mar 30, 2013	9
"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" - Chic... Mar 30, 2013	8
Evolution of Eohippus (Horse) Feb 25, 2013	8

A turtle comes through and wins it!

The Kreuzfahrt story has been getting big hits for a long time and Cat's story about her pregnant friend tied with it for second place.

It's still very cool to see "The Elven Children" getting interest as it's a very sweet poem so the interest is kind of surprising.

At the bottom is "Evolution of Eohippus" and it's interesting to see some discussion on evolution getting some attention as people seem to keep coming back to it and there are days when they really fry it.  No idea why!

Thanks for reading and I'll keep them coming!

"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" - Chicago (video)

Nope, no-one knows.

Tonight Europe switches to Daylight Savings Time so the chaos and confusion that came when the US did it three or four weeks ago can start all over again!

Politicians tell us they will prevent financial armageddon, eliminate nuclear weapons, and generally make us all happy chipmunks but they can't even agree on the time!  I would be a happy chipmunk if they could at least get that much together and I'm guessing you would be too.

So, here we go again!

And, oh yeah, Happy Easter ... unless you're in Greece.  Don't be thinking Greece is strange for celebrating it on May 5 as they probably think you're strange for celebrating it tomorrow.

Does anybody really know what time it is!

Einstürzenden Neubauten - Art Rock

Before you shake your head about getting intellectual, it's not me getting intellectual but rather I'm observing it in others on a tip from Cat.  You can review, in English, the Web site for Einstürzenden Neubauten and discover a great deal about them.  My purpose in the article is to bring you some of their videos so you can see a selection of their their material and thank you to Cat for showing it to me.



This one is a straight-up love song and the lyrics are brilliant.  You can probably tell from the snapshot that the sub-titles are in English.




Observe the colors on his shoulder and it will give you a lead onto what this one means.  I wouldn't have got it except for a very insightful comment from another viewer.  Those are the colors of Germany's flag.




This one may be the most difficult but give it some time and it will make sense to you.   The guitar in the snapshot may be the only instrument in this video that's immediately recognisable but there is a genius to what they do.  Note that this was recorded in 1983, somewhat toward the end of the heyday of krautrock, and I view it as much progressive as Pink Floyd but in a different way.


Einstürzenden Neubauten continues in various forms to this day and their integration of musical and visual abstractions is quite a marvel to me.  It's not at all enough to them to show the band playing while tripped-out psychedelia overwhelms you visually as they have a great deal to say and they work to express it in every way they can.

My Baby is a Little Lamb

Cat tells marvelous stories and I hope I can do one justice!

A friend of hers was pregnant and was just about to deliver the baby so she asked Cat if she would come with her to help and provide moral support.  To Cat, there was no question of the answer and she immediately agreed.

Her friend had also asked her husband and a midwife to be there so the four of them were passing the time at her friend's home waiting for labor to increase.  This was all very pleasant as they told stories to each other and were relaxing in the pleasure of knowing a new life was about to come.

After some hours her friend got a bit uncomfortable and asked if she could take a bath.  Of course Cat immediately drew one for her and her friend slipped right into it.  This was wonderfully relaxing too but only for a while.  It wasn't too long before her friend said the water was too hot and now she didn't know what to do.  Running cold water just made her more uncomfortable so they needed another solution.

Cat wasn't sure what to do so she said she would go outside the room to find some way to help her friend feel better.

But she didn't have any luck in finding anything.

Cat isn't one to give up so she kept looking and instead found a freezer so she thought perhaps she could find some ice cubes to put in the water.

When she got back to the room, everyone in there right away started laughing!  Cat asked what is the problem as have I not solved the problem?

The reason they were laughing is that she had brought back a leg of lamb because it was all she could find!

Even though they thought the solution was funny, they used it and the frozen leg of lamb really did cool her when they put it to her forehead.  That made everyone laugh all the more to see her with a leg of lamb on her head but the delivery went very well not so long after that and the Leg of Lamb Baby is now about eighteen years old.

While ice cubes would also have worked if Cat could have found them, there was another benefit to using the leg of lamb.  Cooling her friend with the leg of lamb defrosted it and all of them had it for dinner the next day!

Slow Down - Save a Turtle! (Updated)

Herewith, my official first Greek Turtle Save.  It was made very clear while I was at Lotho's place that whenever one sees a turtle on the road, one must Save the Turtle.  However, be wary of the ones with a ridged shell as they're snapping turtles and their necks are easily long enough to reach around to your hand plus their beaks are easily strong enough to take off a finger.  Move those ones with your foot, if you please, or give up your dreams of becoming a concert pianist!

Even after rescuing him, he obviously still didn't trust me but that's ok.  He was gone when I came back past later on so for sure he got moving toward his turtle destination.

He didn't have a ridged back so it was ok to pick him up.  Even so, I was still watching his neck to see if he did anything strange when I collected him.  I don't know if Greece has snapping turtles but they're no joke.  There was a large pond near where Lotho lived and people were forbidden from swimming in it because there were so many snapping turtles!  When even one is capable of removing body parts, that's really all I need to know!

Update:  Although I was told there are no snapping turtles in Europe, that's only partially accurate.  There are no snapping turtles native to Europe but some clever person released one or more pet turtles in Italy and the Common Snapping Turtle (native to North America) has been turning up in waterways there.  A snapping turtle is quite a ridiculous choice as a pet because in captivity they can grow up to thirty-eight kilos / eighty-five pounds!  (Wiki:  Common Snapping Turtle)


I did not find the place I was seeking.  I had scoped it thoroughly in Google Maps but no luck this time.  It's ok as I'm just happy to be able to find my way back to the highway when I get off the path.

(Ed:  You're in a country you don't know, where they speak a language you don't understand, and you're exploring the backstreets without a map?)

Um, yeah (laughs)

Here's what I found:  (I super-saturated it to make it all touristy)

That's Katakolon way off on the point and the beach goes all the way around.  It's at least ten kilometers and the curve probably makes it quite a bit longer.

If you think driving on wet sand is a thrill, try it on dry sand as that will definitely make you tingle!

I told Cat I'd take her to the beach today so here it is!  It's the same beach but way past anywhere I've gone on it before.  There are cafes and restaurants here and there along it and my purpose is to find them so I can add them to the Katakolon News Map.

(Ed:  Still doing those slutty links to pump it up Google Search?)

Of course, my brother!  This isn't the half of slutty, tho.  I've been out to TravelGuide.com and answered questions about Katakolon along with a link back to Katakolon News.  If you search 'katakolon news' in Google, the site already comes up on the first page and my objective, with all humility of course, is to put it on the top (laughs).  I figure it's a reasonable objective as it's already got the best map available.  I also figure if it's a high-quality travel resource then businesses will want to be on it and that will make Harry smile.

Joaquin Gets Electrified at the Circus

Last week I raved about how Joaquin Gustav played electric at Helle's Angels venue (Joaquin Goes All to Helle) and I hoped it would do it again soon.  Well, soon turned out to be last night at Cat's Art MusikCircus!

It was just as he played last time and he brings the same delicacy to playing an electric guitar as he does to playing acoustic.  Who else but Joaquin Gustav would be cool enough to do it in a tuxedo too!

Joaquin is a very much an Argentinian gentleman and you can hear it how he talks and very much in how he plays.  He is happy to take requests from people for his set and he knows a great many songs so it's not likely you will surprise him.

My Internet line wasn't fast enough to handle it but he gave the audience a video tour out his window in Buenos Aires and he also showed the equipment he is using in his studio.  His setup is quite similar to mine but he uses a Line6 amp simulator instead of a Boss GT-100 but the results from both are an extraordinary tune and Joaquin is very good at bringing that out.


After Joaquin's show came Voodoo Shilton and check out those tats!

It's become kind of a standing joke that I have no idea how to describe his music so how about I just describe his tats, huh!

No need to describe the tats as you can just look at the pic so we'll have one more go at it.  One example of his work is an original song he called "Afro-Blue" and it's definitely one to kick it up.  It has an African beat and something of a blues motif but don't even be thinking twelve- bar as that's not it at all.  One distinctive thing about it as a particularly unusual chord which he described as 'angry' but which I took as mystical.  Cooks love to analyse meals in restaurants to try to pick out all the ingredients and spices but I have no idea what that chord was ... it was, well, mystical!

Another one that he punches up in a big way is his "Village Jam," also original.  He is quite clear that he really doesn't want to play love songs all that much and he really loves to get things cranked.  This song will do it although what style you would call it is something I will leave to someone else.  What I can tell you for sure is that it's an exciting piece.

And to give a bit more idea why there's no way to describe his style, the last song he played was what he called Gypsy Jazz, "The Sheik of Arabee."  He has an excellent technique but there's still one thing missing in the description as I'm told he does a fine job on an electric guitar but I've not heard that yet.  I'm sure that will be as cool a surprise as it was hearing Joaquin doing it so I'm most interested to hear.


And Cat and I danced

How about those eyes, huh!  No, I didn't fall in love with an avatar as we talk more in real than in Second Life but if I were to fall in love with an avatar, Cat's would sure be the one.  I bet I shot at least ten pictures to get this one!

That's Yevette Nishi flying behind us and that's just one of the many dances Cat has found for the circus.  All of them are extraordinary and why not fly in a dance.  If you could, wouldn't you!

The Famous / Infamous Melrose Jam

This was the first time The Freezebirds got together to play.  There was no plan and we didn't know any songs but it was one of the coolest nights of my life.

From left to right, me, Jack Anzinger, Dave Bosse

There was one more Freezebird some weeks or so later on when Ophir Shur joined to play keys.

This was one outrageously cool night as we played for two hours and people were having a grand time with it even though we were making up everything we did as we went along.  The whole thing was taped but someone stole it!  That was flattering and a drag at the same time as I'd love to know what the hell we did!

This pic is probably from about 1980.  Yes, of course, Lotho was there.  He was definitely my partner in crime for a whole lot of things back then!

My guitar is a Gibson Firebird which is a pretty cool instrument with very good balance despite its unusual shape.  You can learn more about this unique guitar in the Gibson Firebird Wiki.

Here's one more and Dave Bosse is in it.  The reason it's amusing to me is that he's sitting at the top of the stairs and smoking a cigarette.  It's been a long, long time since he did that!

Katakolon News Now Has a Live Greek News Feed

While Twitter has some major problems that anyone who has seen a Justin Bieber trend can easily verify but there are also cool things it does.

The Katakolon News now has a live Twitter feed from Kathimerini English to tell you of what is happening now in Greece.  Right now it displays in English for any of the supported languages on the site but I will review to find if other options exist.

Update:  when you switch to Greek, the news feed will switch to Greek also.

The site is under continuous update and hopefully I can keep that going without breaking it.  I'm constantly adding new locations to it so long as the availability of petrol permits going out to find them (laughs).

Man, I do love exploring!  There are places to discover all over.  It's not like the U.S. where you can go and there are gigantic places, frequently quite close to each other, but rather here there are lots of little places and they're everywhere!

Finally Found the Katakolon Lighthouse

Google Maps is an incredible tool but identifying things from directly above them can be difficult even when you know where they are.  When you don't it can be quite a challenge.  I finally deduced where it had to be and found a possible candidate.  Yep, that was it!

The sky isn't so pretty today but that's easy to explain:  I haven't talked to Cat!

So now I have another place mapped on the Katakolon News Map and it has little red markers all over.

There are still some beaches I'm trying to identify and isn't that an ordeal:  I have to go out to visit as many beaches as I can!  That doesn't work just now as there's no money for petrol and I have no patience at all for waiting.  Harry called me a couple of days ago and it seemed quite imminent for selling the iMac but no new news after that.  Grrrr (laughs).

There are two cruise ships in-port today but I'm spoiled and I'm waiting for the big stuff where there are as many as six in-port at once.  The only trouble with that is cruise ship passengers are immune to injury from vehicles on the road so they will stroll out in front of you without any more thought than a kid chasing a ball.  It's ok, tho, as Katakolon isn't a place to be in a hurry.  That's one of the coolest things about it.

Sonya Jevette Wobbles the World (w/video)

Last night before her show started Sonya Jevette said Second Life had screwed up a cute jacket she was wearing but I thought what she was wearing looked pretty cool anyway!

Sonya Jevette didn't give another thought to what she was wearing at Cat's Art MusikCircus last night and went straight into a set that wound up being her originals from start to finish.  Sometimes she does covers by Adele and others and they're quite beautiful ... and sometimes she doesn't.  Some wonderful things about her show are that you don't know for sure what she will do but any songs she does perform will always have a freshness so it doesn't matter whether you have heard them before.  That's more than professionalism as it's a real gift to be able to do that.

One song you can count on her doing is the "Big Girls" song and it's always a pleasure to go up to dance on-stage with her during the performance.

From left to right, GMinteractive, Cat Boucher, Sonya Jevette, Silas Scarborough

We need another picture to really bring this to you, tho:

What's that on Cat's face.  Well, that's bubble gum, honey!  That might seem a little disrespectful but it's part of the song as when Big Girls go to the dance floor to make her wobbly wobbly move some, she will be poppin' that gum.  All this is in the lyrics to the song.  It's a great one.

Truth be told, Sonya isn't even that big.  She doesn't look like a heroin-addicted New York model but why would anyone want to look like that anyway!

Better than showing you pictures, let's go with one of Sonya's YouTube videos so you can hear her sound.  This is "My Dreams" from the set she did last night and it's from her Singer / Songwriter Challenge in which she is writing one new song a week for a year.  It's a very beautiful song and I love hearing it.

I can hear destiny calling
and she's saying
child,
have the strength
to follow
follow
your dreams

Sonya Jevette is very much following her dreams.  Live it!

You might want to subscribe to Sonya Jevette's YouTube channel as then you will know about the latest song in the Singer / Songerwriter Challenge as soon as she uploads it.

And Cat and I danced

If you're thinking Cat is still poppin' that gum, well, yes, she is (laughs).   Who else can look beautiful while poppin' bubble gum!

The Internet War That Will Kill Us All

Damn!  That sounds really scary!  This is an Internet battle that Matthew Prince, CEO of CloudFlare, says is much like a nuclear explosion as "it's easy to cause so much damage."  Just read the report from CNN.  Sure as hell, we're all going to die!  (CNN:  Massive cyberattack hits Internet users)

We really ought to go out to buy bread, milk and toilet paper.  We are SO screwed!

Well, no, we're not.

This whole thing is hype by CloudFlare as Matthew Prince is in the business of selling protection against such things.  The only place affected by this attack is a Dutch business and there's no discernible effect anywhere else on the Internet.

Sam Biddle of Gizmodo reports on what is really going on:  That Internet War Apocalypse Is a Lie.

Scoobie, doobie, doo!

So, yeah, about all that bread, milk and toilet paper you bought.  Well, the cats have no use for the bread or the toilet paper but they will definitely like the milk.  Good luck in your bomb shelter!

A Little Bit o' Sunshine (Updated)

After being here since November, you might think the novelty would have worn off but that's not true at all.  There's a palm tree right outside my front door!

I know you're getting really tired of Winter right about now.  Even though you love snow, you've had quite enough of it so here's a little bit o' sunshine for you.  There really isn't a single cloud in the sky and the only time I even see aircraft is when the cowboys from the HAF are out playing "Top Gun" going out over the Ionian Sea and they fly way too low to leave contrails.

These pictures really aren't to torture you but rather to share what I'm seeing as there's another discovery everywhere I look and you can think of me as a clown if you like as the really good ones are seeing things many others have forgotten.

Here's a performance I consider really brilliant and, of course, Cat is the one who showed it to me.

The clown is Mikhail Usov and give his performance time to grow. Watch through the eyes of a child and in this and just about everything else you will see so much more.  The Baby in Nashville will understand and I'm pretty sure her grandparents will as well.

Frühling bald kommt!  Ich weiss die Kinder habe keine Geduld aber Frühling kommt!

American Expressions that Euros Will Never Understand

Fuckin' A, Bubba

We have covered this one before and it can't be explained to Euros as Americans don't know what it means either.  It's a great one for when a bunch of ol' boys are hanging out and getting hammered.  You say this to show you haven't passed out yet.

Don't Get Any On Ya

No-one really knows what you aren't supposed to get on you, just don't let it happen.

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels

This seems like a fairly insulting thing to say as if to remark that you look like someone so stupid that you would mistake a wooden coin for a real one.  It's not clear why a nickel is important as they're pretty close to as worthless as a penny.  If it's any consolation, the Euro one cent coin isn't worth anything either.  Just to make it really precious, there's a Euro two-cent coin as well.

Facebook Is a Stupid Idiot

Euros understand the expression just fine.  What they don't understand is why an American, um, computer genius thought it was important to invent a system to tell us that Darlene has a pimple on her nose.  Actually, he didn't invent anything as Steve Case created it in America Online twenty or so years ago.  Nobody cared about the pimple on Darlene's nose then either.

Break a Leg

No-one knows why the expression was invented to wish someone luck before an artistic performance but it's now mandatory as if you say anything else then you jinx the performance.

Cut to the Chase

What chase and why would you want to cut to it?  It seems like something Brits would have invented to describe the evil bastards who go out hunting foxes on horseback.  Why anyone would want to cut to their chase or how one would do it remains to be discovered.  It probably has something to do with movies that have nothing going for them but a car chase.

Get Down to Brass Tacks

Why would anyone want a brass tack and what's the difference between that and any other kind of tack.  This is another one that doesn't make any sense on either side of the Atlantic.

We All Need the Same View of the Elephant

This one came from the corporate world to restrain people who would otherwise think outside the box and it goes toward ensuring people think inside the box, just so long as the elephant fits inside it.

Jump the Shark

I finally broke down and looked up what this means because I had no idea either.  Its purpose is to describe a situation that is way past anything useful or amusing and it comes from when Fonzie in "Happy Days" wanted to jump over a shark on water skis.  So now we both know.

YOLO

This is an abbreviation for You Only Live Once.  Why this should be so prevalent in a time that also features Facebook and Instagram is yet to be determined.

My Bad

This is when you acknowledge you have done something stupid and you want to say something so stupid it's easy to understand how you came to do something stupid in the first place.  Blaming the expression on Americans is, um, my bad as I looked it up and discovered it was first used in this context by William Shakespeare.  So, my bad.


No, it's not that I have nothing to do.  I just finished what I was doing on Katakolon News and don't want to start anything else just yet.

(Ed:  This was all about creating another link to that Web site?)

Yep (laughs).  Every link gets Google Search all sexed-up.

Sonya Jevette Playing it on Video

Here's Sonya Jevette singing an extended version of "Big Girls" and it's live at The A Room with a band behind her.  Sonya will be performing live tomorrow night at Cat's Art MusikCircus and I've reported most enthusiastically about her shows in the past.  These videos will show you why.

This one is "How You Gonna" on a live Internet gig.

And one more.  This one is "Synchronicity"

"Facebook is a Stupid Idiot" - David Ippolito (video)

Looks like a day going for laughs and this guy is very funny.  He asks the Question of the Age:  What the Fuck is Farmville?

You can learn more about David Ippolito at ThatGuitarMan.com.

Gay People Have Much Better Senses of Humor than their Opposition

Herewith, the sixty best signs seen in protests against DOMA while the Supreme Court ponders a decision that is taking them much longer than it took them to take the money get them to decide to screw Gore out of the Florida election.

Sixty Best Signs at Buzzfeed.Com

Here are some I thought were particularly amusing:


50.

42.

13.

Priceless!  (laughs)


No, I'm not gay.  I and most of the developed nations of the world think the U.S. laws on this are unbelievably stupid and mean.